The forest was eerily silent, and while I knew that the birds had bedded down for the night, I wasn’t foolish enough to believe it should be this quiet. Many of the creatures were nocturnal, and so I should have heard rustling, snapping twigs, and the call of bats and owls searching for their next meals. But no matter how deep into the woods I moved, I heard nothing, causing a sense of unease to settle in my chest.
Pausing, I lifted my face up toward the sky, catching only glimpses of the cloudy blackness through the canopy of branches and leaves. Straining to hear something, anything at all, I held my breath, slowing my heartbeat as I let my senses expand outward.
I expected to hear the police searching the woods, but either I was much further away than I first thought, or they were still searching the car and its immediate vicinity.
Closing my eyes, I drew in the scents of the forest with a deep breath: rain-damp earth, mould, rot, water, and the faint musky smell of a nearby rabbit, its tiny heart beating so fast it was little more than a faint vibration on the very edges of my senses. And that wasn’t all. Something else tingled there, but I couldn’t pinpoint it because the scents of everything else around me overpowered it.
As I moved deeper into the woods, the sound of slow-moving water greeted my ears and I jogged toward it. Perhaps Tracey had come this way? Then again, maybe she’d never even been here. Maybe the young police officer had lied to me. But if that was true, then I was seriously losing my touch—he’d certainly given me no indication of deceit.
There was also another possibility. Just because there was blood in the car didn't mean it was hers. Maybe she’d never been in the car at all…
The silence was really beginning to get on my nerves. Picking up my pace, I gave myself over to the movement. The steady beating of my heart and slow, even breaths that formed small clouds in front of my face created a rhythm. I didn’t need to see where I was putting my feet because I could sense the ground beneath me, the heat signature it gave off guiding my movements. That was one of the benefits of not being human. My heightened instincts gave me an advantage others didn’t have. I ducked beneath a particularly well-concealed branch. Of course, it helped that I could see in the dark.
A distant, muffled cry that cut off abruptly brought me up sharp, and I strained to see through the darkness. I definitely hadn’t imagined it.
I started to run.
The slow-moving stream came into view, and I paused. It wasn't really a stream, mostly just runoff created by the rain that had fallen in the past several hours.
The water was black, and it took me a moment to register the difference between the forest’s shadows and the fact that the water shouldn’t have been quite so opaque.
This time, I didn’t need to lift my face to scent the air; the smell was simply there, surrounding me. When had it become so clear?
My heart rate picked up as my stomach started to churn. There was definitely no mistaking it—I was more than familiar with the smell of blood, and I was almost certain it didn’t belong to an animal. But that wasn’t all I could smell on the air.
The scent of fear and death closed in around me. Now that I was aware of the smell, it was everywhere. I couldn’t escape it. The stench coated the inside of my nose and the back of my throat, and I could even taste it.
I walked in the direction opposite the flow of water and the smell grew stronger, almost as though the water was drawing me forward, toward whatever horror lay at the end, like some kind of macabre rainbow. Only it wouldn’t be a pot of gold, that was for sure.
The closer I got, the more I longed to turn back. It would be so easy. No one even knew I was out here, so it wasn't as though anyone was expecting answers from me… I’d seen enough horror in the past to last me a lifetime, though I didn’t consider my vigilante work to be in the same category. The monsters I put down deserved everything they got and more. But the thought of seeing innocence destroyed turned my stomach.
If I left now, no one would need to know that I was a coward.
Pull yourself together, Jenna, the small voice in the back of my head piped up, and I struggled to listen to it. Every cell in my body rebelled at the thought of what I would find at the water’s end. But my feet carried me forward. The voice had never led me astray in the past, and instinctually I knew it wasn't going to start now.
Some called that voice their inner strength, or their conscience. Half the time I wasn't even sure where mine came from, because it was so much stronger than I was.
I wanted to believe it was simply part of the gorgon blood running in my veins. After all, my grandmother had been Medusa, and by all accounts she was a fearsome legend who turned all those who dared cross her to stone. But I knew the truth was much darker than what I’d read in library books.
I reached a particularly large fallen tree and placed my hands on the dark, moss-covered bark. My fingers slid in the warm, sticky, black substance that coated the moss, and I jerked back in surprise and stared down at my hands.
The canopy cover prevented any kind of real light from penetrating the trees, making it impossible to tell what was on my hands. But it reeked of death, and I knew instinctively that it was the blood I sought. Closing my eyes, I found the other part of me, the one I kept buried, and let it flow up through my body. When I opened my eyes again, the world was different. I quickly picked out the splattered blood on the fallen tree; there was still a little heat left in it, which meant it had been spilled only moments before.
Hopping up onto the tree, I crouched and stared down at the mess of limbs and flesh that lay in the leaves and mulch on the other side. The body was almost unrecognisable; only shreds of the victim’s clothes remained spread carelessly across the ground near the larger pieces of the body. The body was cooling rapidly, losing its heat signature, which made my gorgon vision pointless. I let the power sink back down inside me.
Whatever had killed Tracey’s father had been strong enough to rip him apart, and unless some kind of wild big cat was roaming the woods, that meant his killer wasn’t human. I studied the scene from my vantage point on the trunk. The wounds covering the body were ragged, but without getting closer I couldn’t tell if they’d been caused by claws, teeth, or just the brute strength it would take to rend a human man limb from limb.
Raising my gaze, I scanned the surrounding area but couldn’t pick out any signs of the girl. Where the hell was she?
Now that I was practically on top of the bloody scene, I could tell it was the scent I’d been picking up on. Closing my eyes, I drew in a deep breath and attempted to parse out the different scents in the forest. But the only blood scent I got was from the body in front of me.
Of course, Tracey’s blood would probably smell similar to her father’s. Familial bonds created a signature that carried through all the members. The possibility remained, no matter how small, that she was still out here… hurt or worse.
Pushing down my disgust at the sight before me, I stood up and ran along the length of the tree. I swung from one of the roots that reached for the sky like the outstretched arm of a fallen giant and landed safely away from the body. I didn’t understand forensics, but I didn’t want to risk any type of contamination.
I quickly found the tracks that led to the body, but I couldn’t pick out which sets of prints belonged to who, or even what. The whole area seemed to be a mish-mash of trampled leaves. Combing outwards, I finally found what I hoped were Tracey’s tracks. I started after them, letting them lead me through the trees before they ended abruptly.
Frustrated, I slammed my fist into the nearest tree, knocking several pieces of bark free. It wasn’t possible for the murderer to simply disappear without the use of magic, and from what I could tell none had been used. My ability to see magical signatures was more than a little useful, but when there were none to be found…
And humans didn’t just disappear into thin air.
Closing my eyes, I pressed my forehead to the tree and sucked in a deep breath. Th
e scent of blood out here was fainter, but it still prickled at the edges of my senses.
Something to my left moved, and I whipped my head up in time to see a hulking shadow disappear into the trees. Reaching into the back of my jeans, I pulled the small blade I kept tucked into one of my belt loops free. I crept forward and peered into the darkness, but nothing else moved.
“Tracey?” I called out, my voice echoing between the trees before bouncing back to me.
Strong, clawed hands dug into my shoulders, tearing and ripping at my flesh as they scooped me off the ground as though I were nothing more than a rag doll. The air whooshed past me as my attacker launched my body through the trees.
Raising my arms, I tried to protect my head and face as I connected with one of the ancient tree trunks and crumpled to the ground.
My chest burned, each breath more of a struggle than the one before, and my vision ran in coloured streamers when I moved my head. Dragging myself onto my hands and knees, I clutched at the blade I’d dropped. Blood dripped from my head into the leaves, and I cursed beneath my breath. So much for not leaving any forensic evidence.
“Help—” The girl’s scream was cut off, but the terror in her voice drove me onto my feet and stumbling in that direction.
The darkness closed in around me, and I tried to blink away the blood trickling into my eyes. The air next to me shifted, the only indicator of the incoming attack. Raising the blade, I swiped down, the arcing motion cutting through the hulking shape that slammed into me. A high-pitched shriek said I’d struck my target, but my blade wasn’t enough to slow the attack.
The ground rushed to meet me as my attacker rode my body to the dirt. Glowing blue eyes stared down at me from the void where its face should have been. Instead, I saw a swirling mass of darkness that shifted constantly, the features forming and then distorting faster than my eye could follow. I bucked beneath the creature in an attempt to dislodge it to no avail.
Raising the blade, I attempted to stab up into its core, but the creature knocked my weapon from my grip, pressing my arm down into the leaves as it hovered over me.
Fear flooded my veins as it lowered itself onto my body, the void where I imagined its face to be closing down over mine.
Everywhere it touched me, I felt the warmth of my skin draining from my core as though it was absorbing my heat. Lips brushed mine, a kiss as tender as though my attacker actually cared for me. The edges of my vision went grey, and the air in my lungs became thin.
I stared up into the glowing blue eyes, unable to move or fight back, every cell in my body screaming at me to do something. I hadn’t felt so helpless in a very long time. I felt Death’s gentle touch slide against me, stealing the colour from my skin as my heart slowed.
Power flared through my body, a blinding brightness that engulfed everything in its path as my life force ebbed away. I felt my magic as it flooded my eyes and I stared up into the blue ones above me.
The blue dimmed, turning grey, and a howl of agony erupted from my attacker. The scream echoed through the forest as the creature pinning me to the ground was suddenly ripped away from me and disappeared, leaving me alone in the dark.
The flare of my power dissipated as my heart stuttered to a halt.
Blood cooled on my face as a lone tear tracked down my cheek, trickling into my hair and soaking into my skin as the silence closed in around me. I stared up at the sky, but the stars grew dim as I spiralled down into the cold darkness that surged up to swallow me, body and soul.
Chapter 10
I awoke with a start. The damp earth had soaked through my clothes, chilling me to the bone. The smell of blood and death still lingered in the air around me, but it was fainter, as though dawn’s grey fingers were pushing it back, inch by inch, to hide in the shadows that lurked amongst the roots of the trees that stretched upwards around me.
It took me a moment to remember the full events of the night, but when I did, they slammed into me like a kick to the guts. I had no doubt that the girl was long gone, taken by whatever had attacked me.
“I’ve got something over here!” a male voice called out as a dog’s howl cut the air.
I was suddenly aware of the shuffling feet moving through the woods in my direction. Fear spiked my heart rate, and I rolled onto my stomach, scrabbling through the leaves as I struggled to climb to my feet.
The voices and booted footsteps edged closer as I searched through the undergrowth for the blade I’d lost.
“Jesus Christ!” The officer’s shocked exclamation told me he’d found the remains of Tracey’s father. They must be closer than I thought.
Giving up the search, I grabbed a nearby tree trunk and dragged myself upright. Every inch of my body was stiff with the cold, and my arms and legs refused to obey my commands to move faster.
As I staggered through the trees, it took every ounce of strength and sheer will to keep moving. The police dogs were barking frantically, and I knew they could smell me, but the humans handling them were far too overcome by the carnage to pay much attention.
The more I stumbled through the trees, the faster my legs moved as my sluggish blood flow slowly returned. My foot slid out from beneath me as I struggled to climb a moss-slicked, rocky outcrop, and I went down, slamming my knees into the stone and grazing my hands as I tried to protect myself from the worst of the fall.
The pain helped clear my mind, and the memory of the creature’s blue eyes filled my head. It had been strong and fast enough to keep catching me off guard, and whatever it had done to me had weakened me, making me slower, almost human slow.
I’d come so close to death that my powers had kicked in and shut down my body, preserving the last of my life essence and giving me the time I needed to heal. Or at least regain enough strength so I could escape.
A sobering thought, but it was the truth. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I couldn’t shake the knowledge that whatever had attacked me had bested me so completely I’d died, for all intents and purposes. The only reason I was struggling up the side of the hill away from the crime scene was because of the immortal blood that ran in my veins.
I’d often wondered if the time would come when my power would fail me and I would die a true death. Kypherous’s attacks had certainly come close to making that happen. Waking up cramped and frozen hadn’t been a new experience. No, I’d spent enough time at the mercy of that monster to learn that immortality wasn’t a blessing but a curse.
The first time he’d tortured me to the brink of total shutdown had been an accident, but once he’d learned the truth of what I could do, the torture never had to end. Just like Medusa, my grandmother, I was blessed with the longevity of immortality, and my gorgon abilities kept my body alive and young. I figured that so long as my power was never used against me, I could survive almost anything short of decapitation or a blade through the heart.
It was, after all, how Medusa had died. Perseus had marched right in there and cut her head off.
So long as my heart continued to beat, and I managed to keep my head firmly attached to my shoulders, I’d be all right.
Closing my eyes, I fought back the crushing pressure in my chest that sought to suffocate me. I’d survived. I was a survivor, not a victim, and he couldn’t hurt me again. Not now, not ever…
I pushed onto my feet once more and picked up my pace in an attempt to leave more than just the police dogs and the crime scene behind.
Pushing through the back door of the house, I slumped onto the floor and let out a half-strangled grunt of satisfaction. My legs were jelly, and every inch of my body felt as though it had been battered, but at least I could feel again, the pain sure as heck beating the frozen feeling of death.
Merry skipped into the kitchen, her smile widening as she spotted me in the doorway. I waited for her smile to fade as she took in my dishevelled appearance, but it didn’t. Instead, she crossed the floor toward me and threw her arms around my neck in a tight, almost crushing hug.
“Friend, friend, friend,” she sang in her high-pitched, childish voice as she attempted to rock me from side to side.
“Merry, let Jenna come…” Carolyn’s words trailed off into a gasp of shock.
Peering over Merry’s shoulder, I could gauge just how terrible I looked based on the horror reflected in Carolyn’s eyes.
Carolyn grabbed her daughter’s arm and dragged her away from me and into the centre of the kitchen, putting the table between me and them. Jeez, I knew I looked bad, but not scary-bad. Merry’s happy smile slipped away as her mother’s fear slowly spread to her, and she looked at me with new eyes as her bottom lip began to wobble.
“What happened?” Carolyn asked, her gaze darting past me, searching for something only she could see.
“Took a run in the woods, the woods won.” I climbed slowly to my feet with a half-smile, but my attempt at lightening the mood had no effect on Carolyn.
“Did he find you?” she asked. “How long do we have? Oh God, I thought this place was safe.” The rising hysteria in Carolyn’s voice grated on my nerves, and only Merry’s crumbling expression as fat tears began to track down her cheeks kept my temper in check. She was frightened enough; the last thing I wanted to do was add to it.
“Unless he’s some kind of spirit creature, he’s not the reason I’m sporting forest couture, so you can take it down a notch or two.” I dragged out a kitchen chair and dropped down onto it.
Carolyn stared at me, her eyes a little too wide, and I could tell she was trying to figure out whether she could trust what I was saying. I could have saved her the time by reassuring her, but I felt like I’d been run over by a ten-ton truck, and the migraine forming behind my eyes didn’t exactly make me the most gracious host.
Merry made up her mother’s mind for her, choosing at that moment to let out a long wail that could have brought tears to a glass eye. Her emotions swept outwards, washing over me in a wave that nearly knocked me from my chair. I felt my throat constrict as my chest tightened and tears blurred my vision.
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